Wild hooves muddy my waters

A lot has been publicised about feral horses in Kosciuszko, but why haven’t we heard more about the incredible native animals that have called this place home for thousands of years?

This poem was sent to us by someone who values the beauty and native wildlife of Kosciuszko National Park, its natural heritage.

Kosciuszko’s streams are home to a diversity of unique fish that can be found nowhere else in the world.

This poem is part in ode to one of those fish, the stocky galaxias, which is now on the brink of extinction.

This tiny native fish persists in a short stretch of Tantangara creek within Kosciuszko National Park, where a natural barrier (waterfall) protects the species from predatory fish. It is critically endangered and the last of its habitat is being destroyed by introduced pests, such as horses.

The recent bushfires have pushed this species closer to extinction and it is more urgent than ever that we protect their remaining habitat from the impacts of horses.

Left: The waterfall above which galaxias live. The photo was taken before the 2019 summer bushfires by Mark Lintermans. Right, stocky galaxias habitat after the summer bushfires, photo by Jamie Pittock.